All That's Good, So We Were Told
by Funky In Fishnet
Summary: Henry hates that his Mom is feeling so low after Marian and Robin reunite. He's seen how Regina's changed and he's proud of her, he sees how other people in Storybrooke want to help her too. He also finds out that Regina has a secret friend who has been similarly hurt, he wants to help her as well.


_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing._

_**Author Note: **Set after the season three finale episode 'There's No Place Like Home.' This fic also contains some illusions to Mulan/Aurora/Philip. Title is a lyric from the song 'We Need A Hero' by Ron Wasserman. Can be read as a sequel to 'Honor Amongst Thieves' but can always be read as a stand-alone._

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><p><strong>ALL THAT'S GOOD (SO WE WERE TOLD)<strong>

Henry was worried about his Mom. She'd been doing really well, she'd been happy and Henry had been happy for her and then...it wasn't Marian's fault – she'd been locked in a dungeon in the Enchanted Forest, put there by the Evil Queen, and now she was in a totally different realm, reunited with her son and husband. She hadn't seen how Regina had changed. Henry didn't blame Marian, but he still found it hard to smile at her.

He found it hard to be around Emma at the moment too but she understood.

Robin usually looked pained whenever he caught sight of Henry. Good.

Regina had stayed home a lot recently, Henry had stayed with her. He hated seeing her so down and subdued but he liked that she let him see that, that she didn't lie or hide how she was feeling from him. He made her lunch and watched movies with her and sometimes they talked. A couple of times he thought that he heard her talking to someone, he recognized some names – Zelena, Cora, Robin. She'd probably been on the phone to Tinker Bell.

People had come to visit. Tinker Bell was really awesome and said things to Regina that other people just couldn't. For some reason, Regina didn't get mad when it was Tinker Bell. She was probably Regina's closest friend and she made Regina smile. Regina deserved to have something to smile about. Tinker Bell never acted like Henry had crazy ideas either, she always believed him and listened when he talked. Killian was the same, maybe that was because they'd both lived in Neverland?

Henry shuddered. He still didn't like thinking about Neverland. He still had nightmares sometimes.

His Mom had gotten to meet baby Neal a couple of times, Mary-Margaret was being really good about making sure Regina knew that people cared about her. Regina didn't always believe it but it was really good to see that other people _wanted_ her believe it. It wasn't fair, Emma had saved someone's life but why did it have to be the one person who could ruin everything for Regina?

Regina hadn't lashed out magically though, like she might have done before. She'd really changed. Dr Hopper thought so too, he'd come to speak to Regina a couple of times and had told Henry that he was doing a good job, being there for his Mom. Henry was proud of Regina, she had a broken heart but she hadn't taken it out, not permanently anyway, and even though she shut herself away sometimes she hadn't shut out Henry or Tinker Bell. She was still changing, she didn't use just dark magic anymore, she could do light magic too. And she'd broken the second Storybrooke curse.

She was amazing, Henry's Mom was amazing.

Recently, she'd gone out a few of times by herself but Henry knew that she hadn't been to Granny's or to the store, he'd checked. So where was she going? Tinker Bell sometimes took Regina out and Mary-Margaret and David had invited her over for dinner a few times too. Now Regina was going somewhere by herself secretly. Henry trusted her, he did, he just…he knew that she'd been through a lot and that sometimes people weren't careful when they were hurt or angry. He'd seen it happen before with Emma and with his grandparents.

He watched Regina finish her coffee "Where are you going?"

Regina paused and looked at him with careful eyes "For a walk, I thought we agreed that fresh air was a good idea for both of us?"

Yeah, he had been inside a lot and Regina and Emma had both been worried so Henry and Regina had made a deal – they'd both get outside at least twice a week and they had to have proof for each other that it'd happened. Just another part of Operation Cobra.

Henry talked to Emma about it when she called. They spoke on the phone couple of times a week which was okay so far. She always sounded careful and she hadn't said anything about Killian yet, even though Henry had been dropping some pretty heavy hints. He'd spotted them together at Granny's a couple of times and at the graveyard once but they'd been standing close, their heads dipped together, looking serious and sad. It'd been great to see Emma hugging somebody like that.

He didn't like hearing her sound so unsure but he couldn't talk to her about Regina, Robin and Marian yet, not without getting mad about it. She'd apologized a lot already and Henry got it but still, Regina was really unhappy and she didn't deserve what had happened to her.

Mary-Margaret had told him that being a hero wasn't about choosing who to save, it was about saving people even when they didn't deserve it.

Henry had lifted his chin "My Mom's a hero too."

Mary-Margaret had smiled softly and had nodded. "She is, both your Moms are."

Henry knew that Mary-Margaret wanted him to go and see Emma but David had told him that as long as Henry was talking to her, then that was good enough for now. He should talk to Dr Hopper or anybody else who could help and let them know if they could support him in any way.

Henry had held his uncle, still so small, and had thought about his Dad.

Now he was looking at Regina, worry like a tight ball in his chest and Regina was looking back at him, maybe seeing his worry because her eyebrows sloped upwards and her eyes went soft at the edges.

Henry pressed his lips together "Can I come with you?"

Regina hesitated so Henry plowed onwards "I just, I don't like not knowing where you are, not right now."

Regina was smiling a little smile again and she touched his arm warmly, like just that little touch mattered a lot. During moments like that Henry remembered that she'd once thought she was never going to see him again, that she'd wiped herself from his memories just to keep him and Emma safe. He reached out and touched her arm too. She was a hero.

"I don't think that ever goes away," Regina mused aloud, her gaze a little bit far away. Then she was hesitating again. "We might...meet someone."

The way she worded it was careful and Henry immediately paid even more attention. Had his Mom been going for walks to actually meet up with someone? A friend? That was good. But why hadn't she told him about it?

Henry frowned, his mind whirling with theories. "Are they okay?"

"Yes...yes, it's just..."

Henry could see the pain in her expression, she was thinking about Robin again and _oh,_ maybe his Mom wasn't the only one who'd been shutting herself away because of pain and feeling sad. Maybe that was how she'd made this new friend. He nodded slowly, watching her, wanting to find the right words to let her know that he got it.

"Sometimes people get hurt badly and they don't want anyone to see?"

His hand closed around hers, her skin felt cold. It felt important though, important to hold on like that. There was still pain on her face, Henry moved a bit closer like he could stop her feeling pained and cold just by being there.

"Thanks for letting me see."

Regina's expression _did_ something then and her eyes glistened but she didn't say anything, instead she took a quiet breath and drew him into a hug. Henry didn't complain, he held her just as tightly.

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><p>People stared at Regina whenever she walked through town now. And it wasn't like before when a lot of people were still angry about what she'd done as the Evil Queen, now it was more like they pitied her and some people were even happy because she was hurt, like she was getting what she deserved because they'd been hurt by her first. Henry always glared when he saw someone looking at Regina like they were glad. She'd done a lot of really bad stuff but lately she'd been trying not to and she'd saved Storybrooke, more than once. She didn't deserve to be looked at like that.<p>

Regina always held herself carefully though, she always had a straight back and a fiercely fixed blank expression, like if she was strong enough nothing would be able to hurt her. She wore clothing that always made her lift her chin a little bit more. Henry walked by her side, unashamed and proud of his Mom.

Now, she was leading him towards...towards the cemetery? Henry swallowed, he'd visited his father's grave once his memories had remembered. He'd wanted to say goodbye properly to the man who'd been his father in the end and a hero too. That was what heroes did, they sacrificed stuff, even themselves, for the greater good. Neal had been a hero.

Regina touched his shoulder, her expression concerned now. Henry tried to smile, not wanting to worry her. She had enough to think about already. She squeezed his shoulder firmly and Henry stood up a little straighter. She understood, she'd probably bake him cupcakes later, the ones with cinnamon frosting that he really liked. He'd share them with her and he'd have hot chocolate and she'd have coffee and it would feel warm and good, sitting there with his Mom.

But for now, they were at the gates of cemetery and, Henry suddenly noticed, somebody was stood by them, waiting. It was a slim figure, dressed in dark red and black leather with gold patterns that his eyes kept going back to. She had a sword on her belt and a bow and a bunch of arrows on her back. She was standing so still, when she nodded her head at Regina the movement felt really special. She almost frowned when her gaze rested on Henry and she looked a little bit wary.

"Henry, this is Mulan," Regina's tone was full of meaning, she wanted Henry to think before he spoke but already he was bursting with exclamations and questions. "Mulan, this is my son, Henry."

Mulan's expression cleared and she nodded at Henry. Henry nodded back and felt Regina touch his shoulder again, a warning reminding touch. He took a deep breath before he spoke, his worries about his mother evaporating for now.

"This is awesome. Mulan, I, your movie's really good, your story I mean."

One of Mulan's eyebrows raised up and she looked a little bit amused. "Your father told me the same thing."

Henry felt a pained pang, because hearing his father's name and knowing that he wouldn't get to speak to Neal about any of this, hurt so much. But he also felt kind of excited and really interested, because Mulan had known his father.

"You met my Dad?" Then he remembered. "Oh! You were with Aurora and Philip in the Enchanted Forest."

Something happened in Mulan's expression then, something that made her look sad and full of aches and then sort of shyly hopeful too. Henry felt Regina's hand get firmer at his shoulder and he frowned because wasn't Mulan friends with Aurora and Philip? Like, really good friends? Aurora and Philip talked about her a lot and it was always good things, great stories and...and Mulan was here, not in town.

Henry frowned. He couldn't work out why Mulan had looked so hurt at hearing Henry talk about Aurora and Philip, he couldn't imagine the royal couple hurting Mulan, unless they'd been really different people before, like Regina or Mary-Margaret's Mom. The expression on Mulan's face was kind of familiar though, it was how Regina looked sometimes when she was thinking about Robin. So did Mulan have a broken heart too? Was that why she wasn't spending time with Aurora and Philip? But Aurora and Philip had always loved each other and Mulan...

And Philip had woken Aurora from a curse with True Love's Kiss and Mulan was here, by herself, with lots of pain on her face.

Henry didn't know what to say.

His Mom stayed silent too, her hand still at his shoulder. She had Henry, but who did Mulan have? Well, she had Regina now and Henry too.

Mulan's voice was carefully flat when she finally spoke "You've heard about me."

Henry nodded slowly, his mouth twisting as he thought about what he should say "They talk about you a lot, they miss you."

He didn't say who, he knew that Mulan would know who he was talking about. He felt another burst of anger, this wasn't what happy endings were supposed to be like; some people happy and other people not. That wasn't fair at all.

If Tinker Bell ever started granting wishes again, then Henry knew what he was going to wish for.

He looked at Mulan suddenly, talking about Aurora and Philip had reminded him of something. According to Aurora, Mulan was the one who'd traveled with Neal to Rumplestiltskin's castle. He glanced quickly at his father's gravestone just once before continuing, his heart feeling as eager as he did.

"What was my Dad like, I mean, when you went with him to Rumplestiltskin's castle?"

Mulan's expression changed and Henry moved forward a step and listened as she told him about how far they'd traveled through forest and across sand, what they'd talked about and what had happened at the castle. Something prickled in Henry's eyes as he listened and his Mom's hand never wavered from his shoulder, not even when Robin was mentioned. By the time Mulan finished talking, Regina's arm was wrapped around him.

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><p>It was almost lunchtime when Henry and Regina began their walk back home. Henry stayed deep in thought. Mulan had told him that she was staying with Robin's Men, that she'd been with them for a while now and that her presence was a well-guarded secret. Robin had done that much for her, Henry supposed he could be grateful for that. And his Mom was keeping Mulan's secret too. So would Henry but what if Storybrooke needed someone like Mulan, someone who could use a sword and a bow and arrow? Regina frowned when he mentioned that and Henry thought about the light magic that she could use now and the magic Emma had too. Maybe that was all Storybrooke needed to be safe. Anyway Killian and David were already teaching Henry how to swordfight. Maybe Mulan could too, maybe she'd want to help if Aurora and Philip were in danger.<p>

Emma had said before that he should be safe and happy, which was why she'd wanted to go back to New York with him. But, Henry had realized, happy endings didn't mean 'the end', not for heroes. There was always something else to fight and in Storybrooke they had friends who could all fight in different ways and Emma was the savior, together they could face anything. So Henry was going to be prepared. He was getting better with a sword too, both Killian and David had said so.

Henry wondered aloud if Mulan liked cupcakes, maybe they could make some for her. Regina's small smile was warm, proud and glad, it was almost close to being happy. Henry smiled back, brushing his arm against hers as they walked home together. He thought again about the stories that Mulan had told him about his Dad.

His family were heroes, every one.

_-the end_


End file.
